Sunday, November 3, 2013

Separate is NOT Equal!

I was so happy when I learned that we would be discussing
Brown v. Board of Education this week in class. I have always had a deep
interest in this matter and didn’t really know where to start with researching
it further. The Electronic Field Trip found on the “Separate is Not Equal: Brown v.
Board of Education website” was very insightful. Many aspects of this major
point in history but I want to share two things that really stuck out to me.

I think it is safe for me to say that all of us
are asking the same question when we are at our Service Learning placement or
reading a new article...Can I really change it? I find myself asking this same question
to myself whenever I see a student hiding in the corner of the room or read an
article that says that something has to change! This video has made me realize
that yes I can change things! The video discussed Five Communities that helped
to change the country.

In this case Harry Briggs and nineteen
other parents of Clarendon County go against the school board chairman,
Roderick W. Elliot. White children were able to take a bus back and forth to school; African Americans did not have that luxury and many had to walk up to
nine miles to go to school. The parents petitioned for transportation for their
children to go to school.

This case also was fought by
parents of the county: Oliver Brown and 13 other parents from Topeka. The
defendant was the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. The complaint was that segregated elementary schools and the harmful psychological effects of
segregation on African American children. A study was conducted among White and
African American children. When showed a white doll and a black doll, a
majority of African American children chose the white doll. This showed that
segregation decreased the self-esteem of African American children.

This case involves ninth-grader Dorothy Davis, 16-year-old
student Barbara Johns and 116 other
students and parents of Farmville. The complaint was that segregated
schools for African Americans were overcrowded and underfunded. The schools did
not have gymnasiums or cafeterias or even bathrooms for the teachers. Many schools
went without chalkboards and desks.

These cases involved Sarah
Bulah, Ethel Belton and seven other parents in Wilmington County versus Francis
Gebhart and the State Board of Education. The complaint of the parents was that
the segregated schools were far from the homes and neighborhoods of the African
American children. They also touched on the conditions of the only African
American highschool in the community.

This case also
involved students: 12-year-old Spottswood Bolling, Jr. and four other students
from Washington, D.C. This case addressed that black students had to attend
overcrowded segregated schools and were denied admission to well-equipped white schools.

Hearing about how the students got involved in
these cases really made an impact on me. These cases gave me hope that I, too,
could possibly change things for the best.

The next thing I would like to address is
President Eisenhower’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v.
Board of Education: “I won’t say it’s right and I won’t say it’s wrong.” This
really aggravated me. One of the presenters in the video said that the
government reflects the people of the nation. As I was listening to this discussion I couldn't help but refer back to Johnson when he tells us to "Just say it!" I think Johnson would tell Eisenhower to just say what he really means-stop turning it into a riddle. Say the words! If the President of the United
States gave the decision half-hearted support than in return the nation would
as well. The video discussed that many people violently opposed the Supreme
Court’s decision. I can now understand why. Although he may not have fully
supported the decision he knew that he had the job of protecting the court’s
ruling. He ordered that troops protect black students as they walked to school.

Painted by Norman Rockwell-this painting called "The Problem We All Live With" features soldiers escorting young Ruby Bridges to school.

“Between Barack and A Hard Place” by Tim Wise

As he was interviewed by Mike Papantonio, Tim
Wise made some very great points about racism in America. The fact that
intrigued me the most was when he referred to how many hoops a person of color
has to jump through to even be considered truly exceptional. People of color
are hindered by their skin color. A white male could, as Wise said, crash five
airplanes, and still be considered a Presidential candidate (referring to John
McCain). Yet, if a black male had crashed five planes he wouldn’t even be
considered a candidate. We are missing out on an equal opportunity society. Wise
discussed five common stereotypes of people of color:

Whites believe people of color are less intelligent;
Whites believe that people of color are more aggressive and more likely to have
a criminal background; Whites believe that people of color are less patriotic; Whites
believe that people of color are less hardworking; This point goes along with
the 4th point: Whites believe that people of color want to live on
welfare and thus do not work.

I was reminded of Johnson’s article and something
I learned from the Promising Practices conference yesterday. On pages 27-33,
Johnson gives us a list of “What Privilege Looks Like in Everyday Life.” The
last workshop I attended had two parts to it. The first part “Trans*Action: Tools
for a Transgender Ally” is the part I would like to connect to Wise’s
interview. The presenter, Jaye Watts, a social work for Youth Pride, Inc., gave
the class a “Privilege Checklist” which lists the struggles that people of the
LGBTQQ community face. Both Johnson’s list and Jaye’s “Privilege Checklist” only
add a deeper meaning to Tim’s words.

"Separate and Unequal” by Bob Herbert

I don’t know how many of you were bothered by
the Mayor’s comment yesterday, but I was really upset by it. As the Mayor said
that the socioeconomic background of a parent should not affect the success of
the student. Or the comment made that zip code cannot dictate the quality of
education that is offered to children. I believe that Bob Herbert would
disagree whole-heartedly with these two statements. We see these in different
quotes from his article:

“Educators
know that it is very difficult to get consistently good results in schools
characterized by high concentrations of poverty.”

“If you really want to improve the education of poor children, you have
to get them away from learning environments that are smothered by poverty.”

I see this everyday at my Service Learning
placement. I overhear conversations about who brought their lunch from home and
who had to get a “special” lunch from school. This week’s hot conversation
topic was who had a costume for Halloween and who didn’t. I see how this
affects the mindset of the children.

Many circumstances affect the education a
student receives. I do believe however, that Herbert would agree with one major
point the panel made yesterday. The education of the student starts with the
parents.

“Studies have shown that it is not the
race of the students that is significant, but rather the improved all-around
environment of schools, with better teachers, fewer classroom disruptions,
pupils who are engaged academically, parents who are more involved, and so on.”

Everyone, especially the parents, need to get
more involved in the schooling of EVERY child.

Question for the class:

Many points of view were presented in this week’s
reading/videos. I found a lot of connections to the Promising Practices Seminar
yesterday. How do you feel about the Mayor’s and panel’s thoughts about zip
code and socioeconomic background?

1 comment:

As always your blog looks great. Thank you for posting the pictures of the white school vs. the school for people of color. I agree that everyone including parents need to get involved in their children's education. You made great points.

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So I’m a bookworm! I love literature and love how one book or play can take you away to a far away land. And no, you're never too old to use your imagination! That's my favorite part of reading-picturing what I'm reading in my head and wondering if that's what the author had in mind as well.

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